St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Ramsbottom
TO BUILDERS AND OTHERS - Plans and specifications of ST ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH at Ramsbottom, may be inspected and bills of quantities obtained, on application at our office, No 4 Cooper Street, Bury on or after Wednesday next. Tenders will be received for the whole or any separate department of the works, but neither the lowest nor any other will necessarily be accepted. Tenders to be sealed and properly endorsed and delivered to the Secretary, Mr Lever, Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, on or before Tuesday the 27th inst. BLACKWELL & BOOTH, Architects. [Manchester Guardian Saturday 17 February 1872. Page 10]
On Saturday the foundation stone of a new English Presbyterian church was laid at Ramsbottom by Mr T Matheson of Liverpool. .... The style of architecture of the new edifice will be Gothic. On the ground floor seats will be provided for 500 worshippers, and in the gallery there will be accommodation for 200 more. The church is being built of stone obtained from the neighbouring quarries. Its dimensions are 91 feet by 42 feet; the roof, 48 feet high at the ridge, will be of one span without pillars. Attached to the church will be a minister’s vestry, session room, lavatory and other conveniences. The main feature externally will be a tower and spire at the south-west corner rising to a height of 125 feet. The architects are Messrs Blackwell and Booth, of Bury; and the work has been undertaken by local contractors. It is expected that it will be completed about next mid-summer. [Manchester Guardian 23 September 1872 page 3]
NEW PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT RAMSBOTTOM - On Saturday, Mr Thomas Matheson, Liverpool, laid the corner stone of a new English Presbyterian Church at Ramsbottom. The style of the building is geometric Gothic. The body of the church will accommodate 500 worshippers, and the necessary arrangements have been made for the erection of a gallery at the end to accommodate an additional 200. It is 91 feet long and 42 feet wide, and the height of the ceiling is 48 feet. The roof is in a single span, without any pillars. There are also provided a minister's vestry, organ chapel, large sessions room, lavatory, and other conveniences. At the south-west corner there is a tower and spire rising to a height of 125 feet. For the prevention of draughts, the two principal entrances are detached from the church by a vestibule having a swing door at each end. The seats are open benches, and the woodwork throughout is pitch pine, stained and varnished. The work is expected to be finished about Midsummer next year. The total cost is estimated at £5,000. The architects are Messrs Blackwell and Booth, Bury. [Manchester Weekly Times 28 September 1872 page 7]
RAMSBOTTOM. LAYING CORNER STONE OF ST. ANDREW'S ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - The above event was celebrated last Saturday afternoon with the laying of the foundation stone by Mr Thomas Matheson of Liverpool. …. The new church, of which Messes. Blackwell and Booth, of Manchester and Bury, are the architects, promises to be one of the handsomest specimens of architectural skill that is to be seen within a radius of several miles. The site of the church is well chosen, being one of the picturesque places for which the district of Ramsbottom is famous. It is on the Edenfield turnpike road at the corner of what is known as Kay Brow, near the tollbar at the higher end of Bolton Street and has a declivity of something like 30 feet from its highest to its lowest point. Advantage has been taken of this peculiarity by placing the church on the highest point and reserving the lower portion for the school, which is ultimately to be connected with it, and for which designs have been prepared by the architects, so that when completed the whole group of buildings may be used together in a practicable manner. One noteworthy feature is the thoroughly good and substantial character of the materials to be used in the construction of the edifice. It is known that the Fletcher Bank Holcombe Quarries produce stone which is probably the best in England, and although this could have been constructed of soft stone for a less sum by several hundred pounds, the promoters determined to make the place worthy of its purpose, and build it in such a manner as to give assurance of its permanency by using the local stone for all the walls and dressings throughout, and pitch pine for all the carpenter and joiners’ work. This determination is the more to be commended as there is just now too great a tendency on the part of some architects and committees in buildings of much greater pretensions, and for which the funds could more easily be obtained, to have their ideas expressed in fancy rather than in good and lasting materials. There can be no doubt that this little church at Ramsbottom will be standing evidence of the foresight and public spirit of those who built it when some of its more ornate contemporaries are crumbled into dust. The internal dimensions of the chapel proper are 91 feet by 42 feet, and the roof is all in one span without the support of any pillars. The height to the ceiling is 48 feet. It is divided into six bays, and in the second bay from the front on the southwest side is a tower and a spire about 125 feet in height, reminding us somewhat of the little tower and spire at the Bank-street Schools, built by the same architects a few years ago. There is an entrance porch in the corresponding bay on the north side, and these entrances are detached from the main building by an intermediate vestibule having a swing door at each end, by which means it is intended to avoid cold draughts. These vestibules contain the stone staircases which lead to a gallery at one end, which is intended to be erected at some future time, Accommodation is provided for over 500 worshippers in the body, and the gallery, when erected, will hold 200 more. The seats are all open benches, and ample space has been provided by placing them three feet apart. The choir stalls are in the chancel, on the north side of which is an organ chapel, 16 feet by 16 feet, and on the south side a minister’s vestry of the same size. The whole of the walls are wainscoted inside with pitch pine to a height of about four feet six inches. Behind the church is a sessions room, 28 feet by 16 feet, with lavatory and other convenience, and a separate outside entrance thereto from Kay Brow. The style of architecture is geometrical gothic, and the principal features of the front elevation are a row of windows in the lower storey with trefoil heads and arranged in groups with a large six-light traceried window over the central group. The side windows are of three lights each, and have traceried heads, and over each there is a dormer gable running into and intersecting the main roof. The chancel has a large five light traceried window in the end wall and a circular window in each of the two side walls. The warming apparatus is to be placed under the tower, and the vestry and sessions room provided with open fire-plates. The estimated cost was £4,400, and the original tenders of the builders were very near that sum, but the peculiar nature of the ground necessitated deeper foundations than were expected, and the cost has been thereby increased. The contractors are as follows: - stonework, brickwork, excavating, etc., Mr James Garnett; woodwork, timber work, Messrs Wild; plumbing and glazing, Mr. Isherwood; plastering and painting, Mr. Rothwell (all of Ramsbottom); slating, Mr. John Kay, Bury. [Bury Times - Saturday 28 September 1872 page 3
Reference Manchester Guardian Saturday 17 February 1872. Page 10 -contracts
Reference Manchester Guardian 23 September 1872 page 3 - foundation stone
Reference Manchester Weekly Times 28 September 1872 page 7
Reference Bury Times - Saturday 28 September 1872 page 3
Reference Barton Page 270